OAKLAND, Calif. - A gasoline tanker crashed and burst into flames near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Sunday, creating such intense heat that a stretch of highway melted and collapsed. Officials predicted a traffic nightmare for Bay Area commuters for weeks or months to come.

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Flames shot 200 feet in the air, but the truck's driver walked away from the scene with second-degree burns. No other injuries were reported in the 3:45 a.m. crash, which officials said could have been deadly had it occurred at a busier time.

"I've never seen anything like it," Officer Trent Cross of the California Highway Patrol said of the crumpled interchange. "I'm looking at this thinking, 'Wow, no one died'  that's amazing. It's just very fortunate."

Authorities said the damage could take months to repair, and that it would cause the worst disruption for Bay Area commuters since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged a section of the Bay Bridge itself.

Nearly 75,000 vehicles a day use the interchange, which connects westbound lanes of Interstate 80 to southbound I-880, on the edge of downtown Oakland about half a mile from the Bay Bridge's toll plaza. But Because the accident occured where three highways converge, authorities said it could cause commuting problems for hundreds of thousands of people.

State transportation officials said 280,000 commuters take the bridge into San Francisco each day.

On Sunday the collapse doubled the half-hour trip drivers normally face getting to and from San Francisco and the eastern suburbs  even though many didn't even attempt the trip because of the crash. Traffic appeared light on the bridge itself, but motorists looking to get on and off were backed up on both sides.

Transportation officials said they already had added trains to the Bay Area Rapid Transit rail system that takes commuters across San Francisco Bay, and were urging people to telecommute if possible. In preparation for rush hour, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger authorized funding so that ferries, buses and the rail system could carry commuters free of charge during Monday's commute.

State officials said motorists who try to take alternate routes Monday instead of relying on public transportation would face nightmarish commutes.

The tanker carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline ignited after crashing into a pylon on the interchange.

The driver, James Mosqueda, 51, of Woodland, was headed from a refinery in Benicia to a gas station near the Oakland Airport when the accident occurred, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A preliminary investigation indicated he may have been speeding on the curving road, Cross said. Mosqueda was being treated in a hospital for burns Sunday; the hospital would not transfer media calls to his room.

Witnesses reported flames rising up to 200 feet into the air. Heat exceeded 2,750 degrees and caused the steel beams holding up the interchange from eastbound I-80 to eastbound Interstate 580 above to buckle and bolts holding the structure together to melt, leading to the collapse, California Department of Transportation director Will Kempton said.

The charred section of collapsed freeway was draped at a sharp angle onto the highway beneath, exposing a web of twisted metal beneath the concrete. Officials said that altogether a 250-yard portion of the upper roadway was damaged.

The cost of the repairs would likely run into the tens of millions of dollars, and the state was seeking federal disaster aid, Kempton said. Schwarzenegger late Sunday issued an emergency declaration to allow repairs to happen faster, said Adam Mendelsohn, the governor's spokesman.

The Bay Bridge consists of two heavily traveled, double-decked bridges about two miles long straddling San Francisco Bay.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the accident showed how fragile the Bay area's transportation network is, whether to an earthquake or terrorist attack, and has the potential to have a major economic effect on the city.

"It's another giant wakeup call," Newsom told reporters at the California Democratic Party convention in San Diego.

Interesting to note that while driving home from a Sunday dinner in Alameda almost everyone was going 55 - 65mph vs 75- 80 on the 880 - 980 and 580 - I went to the site this afternoon to see - whew! reminded me of a war zone strike.

The driver (Hispanic) had been working for the trucking co. fo 10 months - I don’t think their insurance is going to cover the cost - Caltrans sez they have to do testing of the adjacent spans before repair work can commence - duh! - well OK - good engineering.

The Maze can be fun to go theu at speed when you have a vehicle that can take the side G-Force - this driver clearly did not have his company, his self, his family and the general welfare of the public at large in his mind when he wen through it with a big-rig - Papasmrf has much to say on this that is right on.

Heat exceeded 2,750 degrees and caused the steel beams holding up the interchange from eastbound I-80 to eastbound Interstate 580 above to buckle and bolts holding the structure together to melt, leading to the collapse...

"No way, that's not how it happened...Google it...and pass me two more donuts!"

9
posted on 04/29/2007 9:36:23 PM PDT
by JRios1968
(This tagline brought to you by courtesy of Happygrl)

Sorry. I meant “no OTHER casualties,” because the driver’s injuries sound quite severe. And as to the insurance issue, as a fuel hauler, the trucking company could indeed have catastrophic event insurance with very high limits, possibly underwritten by the oil industry (although that’s just speculation).

Witnesses reported flames rising up to 200 feet into the air. Heat exceeded 2,750 degrees and caused the steel beams holding up the interchange from eastbound I-80 to eastbound Interstate 580 above to buckle and bolts holding the structure together to melt, leading to the collapse,

Hey! Hold on here! This can't be so! It's impossible for that to happen. I know because the conspiracy theorists said that it was impossible for the steel structure of the World Trade Center to collapse simply because of the fire from the plane. Naaa, they're not foolin me!

"All BS aside - went to the site this afternoon - Caltrans was working and Oakland and Evilles Finest had the area cordoned off .. looks like its going to be a max 24 hr effort."

I read that the Oakland FD arrived on the scene and put water on the fire but decided to let it burn out rather than apply foam to put the fire out. The story said that they decided not to apply foam because the foam chemical residue might pollute the Bay. Using foam might have stopped the collapse of the structure and forestalled the nightmare commute that we will suffer for months. I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more in the future about the decision to let it burn out without using foam.

After watching Barron Davis make the Mavs look like they were playing with lead shoes on, I think your right. Mark Cuban will probablly say that Bush and Rove engineered his teams loss to discredit his film.

34
posted on 04/30/2007 1:37:41 AM PDT
by skimask
("Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated"....George Bernard Shaw)

Damn that George Bush. First he blew up the WTC, then he blew up the levees. Now he is blowing up bridges? This man must be impeached, but first lets get Halliburton to fix the bridge. (There, I just wrote Rosies monologue.)

Where I work its my job to hire drivers with a CDL, I almost forgot I have to report any to the FBI that cannot or refuse to back up a truck capable of hauling a load that could most definately be used as a bomb, concrete mixers.

In another post there was an article about a person who wanted a Hazardous Material endorsement on his CDL training course, he was only interested in driving foward fast and not to learn how to reverse. Just like the 9/11 terrorists.

I checked this because it would make a good story about unintendend consequences (the pollution costs of the longer drives will far outweigh the costs of the foam).

But it appears it wouldn’t have mattered.

From a news account:

“We didn’t know it was a tanker truck that was involved. As soon as that was established, we immediately upgraded to a large-scale incident response team and added two more engines and two trucks,” Price said.

Firefighters soon saw that the upper ramp was buckling, Price said, and by 4:02 — seven minutes after they arrived — it had collapsed. The firefighters changed their strategy for battling the blaze.”

The road was already “gone” when they got there, and collapsed 7 minutes later, not long enough for the foam to make a diference.

The article DID say they didn’t use foam, but that’s because after the collapse there was no point in putting out the fire any more:

“With no structures or lives in jeopardy, and with 8,000 gallons of flammable fuel involved, you’re basically better off letting it burn itself out,” said Price.

Firefighters used only water to control the blaze, which took about two hours, Price said. Had there been lives at risk, firefighters would have used firefighting foam, but the chemicals in it then would have polluted the nearby bay.”

...Cross said Mosqueda had been driving for Sabek Transportation, of South San Francisco, for 10 months. He was carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline from a Benicia refinery to a gas station on Hegenberger Road in Oakland.

According to a company statement, Mosqueda has a safe driving record. The company described his escape from the wreck as "miraculous" and said it is cooperating with the investigation into the crash. The company also said initial alcohol and drug tests indicate Mosqueda was not under the influence while he was driving.

Cross said Mosqueda has a valid driver's license and no apparent history of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

"At this point, there is no indication of impairment on the part of the driver, but that will be part of our investigation," CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said.

A worker at a nearby sewage treatment plant, Isaac Rodriguez, said he spotted Mosqueda on the connector ramp above as the fire raged.

"I believe he was in shock. He didn't know how badly he was burned," said Rodriguez, who added that he later regretted not trying to get someone to find Mosqueda and pick him up.

"It looked at one point like he was going to go back to the truck," Rodriguez said. "I told him, 'Get out of there!' "

Mosqueda has worked in the past with the Sacramento Valley chapter of Teen Challenge, an international Christian ministry that runs centers for people struggling with addiction and other "life-controlling" problems, according to Escalante.

"If he walked away, it's only because the Lord was with him," said Escalante...

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